United States – Anxiety can be caused by chanting, a study also found that brain exercisetargeting memory helps to delay symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease by years.
Findings showed that seniors who did the brain training suffered a slower decline in their memory and thinking abilities compared to those who did not do the training, as reported by HealthDay.
Training Benefits Evident Years Later
The good thing was that this benefit was evident even after five years the seniors had engaged in brain training, a fact that has been demonstrated by the research findings.
‘These results are crucial because the type of intervention is nondrug related, it works a lot and touches the lives of people with the condition,’ added the lead researcher, Sylvie Belleville, the research chair in the cognitive neuroscience of aging and brain plasticity at the University of Montreal.
In the study, the authors have followed 145 seniors with mild cognitive impairment from memory clinics in Montreal and Quebec City over the period of 2012-2015 only.
Study Design and Key Findings
Cross-sectional, randomized controlled trial Among a sample of 88 seniors, approximately one-third were trained in memory interventions. They are classed as practicing on issues such as recalling the names of individuals, following lists of objects or tasks, and concentrating more to recall.
Another third needed training for the improvement of well-being, such as handling anger, solving problems, and other skills. The last third of the participants was a group that did not receive any training at all.
The initial results “established that early treatment can enhance mental performance in individuals with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Sylvie Belleville in the news release of the university. “We had also noted cerebral changes indicating that these people had quickly compensated mentally for their lost memory. ”
Speaking to the research team, they “still observed the benefits on memory and that a measure of dementia had not changed at all in the treated group, whereas there was a decline in the untreated group,” Belleville said.
Analysis of the results revealed that those who pursued memory training had less memory deterioration and better scores on intellect screening tests.
A Cost-Effective Preventive Approach
The results “underscore the potential of cognitive training as a preventive approach for cognitively vulnerable older adults, reducing cognitive decline and potentially delaying the onset of dementia,” the researchers wrote, as reported by HealthDay.
“Furthermore, it is noteworthy that these enduring effects were achieved through a relatively brief, cost-effective intervention that can be readily implemented as a preventive measure for at-risk individuals,” researchers added.